Football: Vikings snap streak!

Photo By D.A Phillips/Viking –Freshman Kenny Potter runs for a 60 yard quarterback keeper on the first drive for the Vikings. The Vikes fell to El Camino 35-33 at Veterans Stadium on Friday, Sept. 28.

By Max Ward / Sports Page Editor
and Sam Favela / Social Media Editor

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The losing streak has ended. The Vikings won their first football game in 14 contests Saturday, Sept. 21 over the Orange Coast Pirates, 46-16. The 1-2 Vikings scored 46 points off 315 yards passing and 270 yards rushing. Quarterback Kenny Potter completed 21 passes on 30 attempts for 267 total yards. The Vikings defense held Pirate quarterback Jon Newsom to 194 yards on only nine completions. One thing the Vikings defense could not stop, however, was wide receiver D.J. McFadden. While McFadden had a 110 yard receiving performance, Viking receiver De’Quan Hampton caught and ran for 128 yards.

The Viking offense never turned the ball over and only allowed one sack. On the other side of the ball, the defense accumulated three sacks and 72 return yards on two interceptions.
Potter was named the South Coast Conference Player of the Week. Potter is the first Viking football player to achieve the honor in more than a year and a half. Despite the victory, the Vikings returned to their last-second losing ways in their 35-33 loss to the El Camino Warriors on Saturday, Sept. 28. The game against the Warriors is an annual rivalry represented by The War Ax. The trophy is given every year to the winner of the game. The last time LBCC won the trophy was in 2002 when the Vikes prevailed 35-13.

The team fell short on a blocked point-after attempt, which led to a 98-yard return following a three-yard Potter tying touchdown run.
LBCC Coach Brett Peabody’s frustration continues to grow. He said in an interview after the game, “This one hurts though, because I felt like for the most part, we were really out playing them. They had a terrible time doing the things we were doing offensively and for us to give the game away the way we have tonight, it is just very frustrating.”

When talking about the loss, Potter said, “We made some early mistakes. It came down to the extra point obviously, but there was a lot more to that. Before the first half, we made a few mental mistakes and then in the second we made a few mental mistakes. It shouldn’t have even come down to the extra-point return.” LBCC team captain Josiah Blandin spoke with the team after the game, saying, “You got to go hard every play of the game. You can’t take that for granted. We can’t leave a hole or nothing. It’s a game of inches, that’s all it is.” The Vikes are now 1-3 overall with a 0-1 record in the Central Conference.

The next game is Saturday, Oct. 5 at 1 p.m. at nationally ranked Riverside City College for a Central Conference game.

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Published continuously since 1927, the Viking News is the official student news organization of Long Beach City College. The award winning newspaper publishes Spring, Summer and Fall semesters and is online and on social media daily. The Viking is part of the Journalism curriculum of the English department.